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Werewolf!GermaniaXForestRanger!Reader

Riding above the forest tree line in late October was simply a wonderful feeling. Looking out over the changing deciduous trees, ranging from burning gold to roiling oranges and reds amongst the green pines and cypress’, to the lapis blue lake in the valley below, a sense of peace was left to linger amongst the scent of the hardwoods and to be carried along the crisp mountain breeze. I could stare at it for hours and be perfectly content, but I had a job to do. Urging my stead, (horses’ name), forward we continued down the trail to the rangers post. Upon arriving, the other rangers’ horse whinnied out a greeting and (h/n) returned it with one of (his/her) own. Dismounting I led (h/n) to the stable and began to remove the saddle and other equipment from (his/her) back. Once all of that was taken care of I led (him/her) to the open pen with the other horse. Returning to the stable I retrieved the supplies that had been packed and went inside the thatched roof cabin to relieve the current ranger of duty.

“Hey Matthew, how’ve you been holding out?” I asked upon entering the kitchen where I was greeted with the scent of pancakes and bacon being fried.

“Hello (name), I’ve been doing good, you?” he asked in his usual soft, quite voice as he flipped the pancakes into neat stacks.

“I’m doing good. Man, those smell good Mattie.” I replied, my mouth watering at the smell. It was early morning. I had set out for the ranger post early so I could relieve Matthew in enough time for him to make it back to the waypoint before nightfall, therefore I had forgone breakfast in favor of a head start and I was starving!

“Thank you (name). Would you like some?” he asked offering me a plate of the delicious fluffy cakes and crispy meat.

I laughed, “Is that a question?” I accepted the plate from him and sat down at the round table to enjoy the heavenly things. It was well known that, while being soft spoken and often times over looked, Matthew made the best darn pancakes anyone has ever had. We sat and chatted awhile before Matthew had to leave. I helped him get ready and saw him off, knowing that he was probably going to be the last human contact I was going to have for at least a month if not longer. The ranger’s posts were spread out throughout the wilderness to ensure the safety of campers, hikers, and other outdoor enthusiasts, and this particular one, Ranger Post 13, was the farthest from them all, almost in the middle of no-where. Set up high amongst the mountains, it was at least a three days ride to get back to the nearest station, another two to the nearest town. As isolated as it was, it was set amongst the most spectacular scenery, so I wasn’t going to complain. Besides, I preferred these months by myself. It was a way to recharge after having to deal with some of the idiots back home and at the station. Most of the time two, if not three, of us would be sent up at a time, but we’ve been short on staff the past few months so I was sent up by myself. Again, I wasn’t complaining.

For the rest of the morning I spent it cleaning the kitchen and setting up the bedroom to just how I liked it. Then I collected my gear and headed off to the rangers tower. The walk was peaceful, with the occasional animal sighting but nothing big, just deer and the likes. Upon reaching the tower I readjusted the gun slung across my back and climbed the ladder up the 75 foot assent to the platform, where I remained for the rest of the evening, looking out over the forest and valley bellow, just enjoying what nature had to offer. As the day turned into night I decided to call it a day and head back. I had not seen any signs of other humans and there were very little animal sightings. Once I had returned to the cabin I made my dinner, took a shower (glad that they spent the money to install pluming with running hot and cold water), and got ready for bed. I made sure to leave the com radio on and next to the bed in case a call came in. And with that I was asleep.

This pattern continued for several days. I managed to catch the occasional glimpse of a bear or moose, which I then reported to the main camp so they could alert the park visitors. There was one night were I even heard one of the local wolf packs howling in the distance. The sound was just amazing. I still couldn’t understand why people would want to kill such magnificent creatures. Despite popular belief, wolves were an integral part of the ecosystem. They rarely, if ever, went after healthy animals (and humans for that matter) and kept the population numbers in check. The carcasses left behind fed other animals and microorganisms. In fact, studies have shown that vegetation is richer at kill sites, which attracts other herbivores. The cycle goes on and on, and on top of that, they’re just plain beautiful.

Five days had gone by in which nothing really exciting had occurred. As the sun was beginning its decent towards the horizon on the sixth day, a lone howl echoed off the sides of the mountain’s and threw the valley. The sound was long and deep, and solitary. What was surprising was how loud it was when the source of the howl must have been a long ways away. It sounded like it came from the next valley over at least, and still the sound was undeniably loud.

“That’s strange. I’ve never heard a howl like that before.” I said aloud, curiously.

“Hey, dudet! You there?” the walkie-talkie on my side crackled to life as the obnoxiously loud voice of one of the other rangers blared through the speakers. I picked up the radio and responded,

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“Dude!” he shouted as I winced, turning down the volume on the walkie so I didn’t lose my hearing, “Did you just hear that howl?!”

“Yes Alfred. It was pretty hard to miss.” I replied sarcastically back to the loud American.

“I’ve never heard anything like that! What do you think caused it?”

“A wolf most likely. Since they’re the only creatures that howl like that I don’t know what else it could have been.”

“Dude, that was WAY too loud to be a wolf. Not even a whole pack could be that loud!”

“I don’t know Al, maybe—“ I was cut off as another howl echoed through the valley, this time it sounded much louder. I began scanning the surrounding area for any signs of movement.

“Dude, there it is again!”

“I know Alfred I can hear it. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it could hear you too.” I said in annoyance.

“What?! You think so?!” he practically screamed.

“Probably, I can hear you without the walkie-talkie.” It was true. The forest had gotten so quiet after the howling that I could hear, faintly, Alfred screaming into the walkie from his station almost ten miles away.

“You don’t think it will come this way do you?” he replied much quieter.

“Why, the ‘hero’ scared of the Big Bad Wolf?” my lips twitched up in a slight smirk.

“What? Of course not! I’m the Hero and I’m not scared of anything! I’m just worried about your safety, that’s all. You’re all the way out there in the middle of no-where and if something happened to you help wouldn’t be able to arrive for a while.” I could tell he wasn’t telling the full truth but he did have a point. Alfred’s post wasn’t the closest but it was still quite a distance for anyone to reach me, and if something did happen to me, I’d pretty much be up a creek without a paddle.

“Calm down Alfred,” I replied, “I don’t think anything bad is going to happen. I think all that’s happening is that there are some unusual sound reverberations coming off of the mountains. The wolf could simply be in an area where the sound of its howling is amplified, making it sound louder than it really is.” Although my theory was a possible explanation and was meant to calm Alfred down, it was doing little to comfort me as the possibilities of the situation I was in started to sink in. For the first time since I started working as a park ranger, the feeling of foreboding, unease, and fear of the desolation and lack of human contact began to sink in.

I shifted the gun on my back as a way to reassure myself that I wasn’t unarmed and could defend myself if something happened. ‘Calm down, (name). Nothing is going to happen. Don’t let Alfred get you all worked up. Everything’s alright.’ Even though I tried to reassure myself that everything was going to be alright, something just didn’t feel right. A sharp beep from the walkie-talkie snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Hang on Al, someone’s contacting me.” I went to change the frequency.

“Be careful (name)!” he shouted before I switched over.

“Hello?” I asked. There was no reply. “Hello?” I tried again. There was still no reply. My heart began to race as fear once again started to settle over me. I began franticly scanning the surrounding land as I listened intently to the silence. It had become eerily quiet. Far too quiet to be considered normal. Every sound the trees made in the wind was amplified so that invisible paws carrying huge bodies with giant jaws laden with ferocious teeth echoed in the otherwise silent forest. The sounds grew louder, and louder, as they came closer, and closer, and closer, and—

“(NAME)!!” I gave a startled scream, clamping a hand over my mouth, as my name was shouted threw the walkie-talkie still pressed to my ear. “(Name), are you there? Hallo?!” I couldn’t answer I was shaking so badly. My breathing had speed up to the point I was panting, my heart was racing like I had just run a marathon and I was breaking out in a cold sweat. I felt like I NEEDED to run. To just run and get as far away from here as possible. I took some shaky deep breaths to calm myself. After a moment of gathering my nerves I responded shakily,

“Y-yeah? I’m here.”

“(Name), where are you? Are you alright? What’s happening?!” I finally recognized the voice as Ludwig, one of the other park rangers, as he shouted over the walkie-talkie.

“I’m alright Ludwig. I’m alright. I’m at my lookout post, right where I should be. Nothing’s happening.” I waited for a response but I only heard silence. “Ludwig?” I asked. Silence. Anxiety was beginning to set in again as the silence stretched on. The forest was growing darker, both figuratively and literally. The sun had all but set and the moon was beginning to take its place in the sky, and the unnatural silence still held itself over the forest.

“(NAME)!” Again a startled scream tore past my lips as the sudden noise ripped through the silence around me, only this time it sounded like a scream of terror. I didn’t cover my mouth in time and my scream echoed off the surrounding wilderness, it sounded much louder in the silence.

“(NAME)!!!” my walkie-talkie was suddenly a blaring, beeping mess as multiple calls were coming in and Ludwig was still shouting at me, trying to get me to respond. I finally realized that the reason why I hadn’t heard him talking earlier was because I still had the volume turned down from when I was talking to Alfred. Scrambling with the controls I franticly shouted into the device as different voices bombarded me with questions, saying that I was alright and that nothing was wrong. Finally managing to get everyone to stop asking questions I returned to the frequency Ludwig was on.

“Ludwig, are you there. Hello?”

“(NAME)! What’s going on!?” Ludwig shouted. It echoed horribly and the speakers squealed terribly from it as I winced at the high frequency.

“Ludwig, you don’t have to shout. Just give me a few moments to explain!” There was a pause on his end and I took that as a sign to continue. “Ok, so what happened was that me and Alfred, and I’m guessing you as well, heard a loud howl, then Alfred called me to discuss what we had just heard. Alfred being Alfred, was shouting into the radio so I turned down the volume on my end so I wouldn’t end up deft. When you called I forgot to turn the volume back up, so I couldn’t hear you unless you shouted, and when you did it startled me and I screamed. Does that explain it?” Once I was done with my explanation I was out of breath.

“Ja, it does. I’m sorry for startling you.” He apologized.

“And I’m sorry for causing so much concern. So why were you calling me?” I asked.

“Ah yes, that. I vas calling because I vanted to talk to you about—“ Ludwig was interrupted by another long, loud, howl. This time it sounded MUCH louder and MUCH closer. It lasted longer than the first two had and it seemed like time was at a standstill as it stretched on, “—that.” he continued once the howl had died down to a faint echo. “Was do you think it is?” I hadn’t realized until that moment that I had been holding my breath since the howl and I let it out slowly as I replied,

“I don’t know Ludwig. As I was telling Alfred, it could just be some unusual sound reverberations off the mountain. That it could be just a normal old wolf who happens to be in an area where sounds are amplified and its echoing off the surrounding mountains and the valley below. Aside from that I don’t know, but I’m starting to think this isn’t any ordinary wolf.” I replied shakily. My original theory seemed a possible explanation the first two times, but that third howl was simply too loud, too close, and had obviously moved from its original position. Shakily I reached for the green binoculars that rested on the table next to me. Bringing them up to eye level I scanned the valley opening that lead to the other valley on the opposite side of the mountains. However, with the sun down there was minimal light, despite the full moon, and the night vision function on the binoculars could only do so much for such a distance. They weren’t military grade so I could only make out the tops of trees. I could barely see the forest floor through the canopy, but what I could see was devoid of movement or any animals.

“Vell that sounds like a plausible explanation. However, I also agree vith you that this is no ordinary volf. That howl is too loud to be made from any normal volf. If this is a volf, then it must be unusually large for its howl to carry that long and loud.” He agreed.

“Yeah.” I replied uneasily, deeply dreading the fact that Ludwig agreed with me. Ludwig was a very logical thinker and did things by the book, unlike his obnoxious albino older brother, so if he agreed with you, well….you know. Suddenly, as I was scanning an opening in the canopy of trees on the edge of one of the mountains, something very large, and very fast past through my line of sight before disappearing back amongst the trees. “Wait, wait! I see something!”

“Was? Was is it? Was do you see?!” Ludwig shouted over the mic.

“Hold on I lost it.” There was a pause as I continued to scan the surrounding trees. “There it is again!” I shouted as I spotted the large, fast movement through another opening in the trees, but it was gone just as quickly as it had the first time.

“Was is it? (Name)?”

“I don’t know Ludwig. It’s large and moving very fast. I’m only catching brief glimpses through the trees before it disappears back into the forest.” I replied. Anxiety was leaking into my shaking voice as I continued to scan the forest at a fervent pace. The cold sweat had once again broken out and the cold night air was seeping through the green jacket I wore to chill me almost to the bone. I was again shaking, both from the cold and, I’m almost ashamed to admit, from fear.

“Vell, was do you think it is?” Ludwig asked.

“I’m not sure Ludwig. I’m not sure. The shape is long, and definitely four legged.” I replied.

“Vhere are you looking? Vhere are you seeing this?”

“To the North, on the Western side of Craggy Peak.”

“Alright.” There was a pause as he, I assumed, scanned the mountain side for movement from his look out post.

“Ludwig?” I asked quietly.

“Ja?” he replied.

“Have you noticed how…quiet it’s gotten?” I continued in a quiet voice as I scanned the mountain side for any more movement.

“Ja, I have. I don’t like it.”

“Yeah, me neither.” There was a long pause after that in which neither of us spoke and the walkie-talkie remained quiet. The silence of the forest encompassed me as I continued to scan the area. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t on high alert. Every sound the wind made was amplified in my mind. My imagination supplying possible explanations for everything I couldn’t see. Suddenly movement in the corner of my line of vision caught my attention and I aimed my binoculars in that direction. There in a clearing stepped out the large figure I had been catching quick glimpses of for the past several minutes. I gasped. Though the quality of what I was seeing threw the binoculars was poor, I could make out some very distinct features the creature had. A long, thick body, long legs, a long tail and pointed ears. I couldn’t make out too much else because of where it stood in the small clearing and because of the poor quality of the binoculars, but its shape looked…familiar. Like it was a creature I knew and was easily identifiable yet at the same time hard to place.

“Ludwig…” I whispered into the mic., “I see it.” I was afraid if I spoke too loudly that it would hear me, despite the fact that it was well over three miles away.

“Vhere?” Ludwig asked in an equally quiet voice.

“In a small clearing just off the side of Craggy Peak, just below the ridge line.”

“Scheiße, I can’t see that far...” He cursed quietly, “Was does it look like?”

“Long body, four long legs, a long tail, and pointed ears. I can’t see much else its’ too far and some trees are blocking my—“ just then the creature threw its head back, revealing a pointed snout and jaw line, and howled, long and loud. I gasped and froze, staring wide eyed at the source of the mysterious howling. Goosebumps ran up and down my arms, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end and a chill shot down my spine, freezing me in place, as the loudest, most foreboding howl I had ever heard echoed into the night air.

“Ludwig!” I half squeaked half whispered, “It’s the creature! It-it’s the thing that’s been howling! I-it looks wolf like, b-but it’s not a wolf. It…” I watched as it took off again, in horror, as it headed straight towards me. “It’s coming this way!” my voice was shaking, fear hanging on every word. I was shaking badly as I watched it through the breaks in the trees as it came closer and closer to the lookout tower.

“(Name), get out of there!” Ludwig shouted. I dropped the binoculars from my eyes and turned on my heels, heading for the hatch door leading down to the ground. However my eyes had yet to get used to the light after looking through the binoculars for so long and I failed to notice the chair in my way as I tripped over it. I was sent sprawling to the floor as I dropped both the binoculars and the walkie-talkie in an attempt to catch myself, an unintended scream rising from my throat as I hit the floor boards. The gun I was carrying slid across my back and butted against the base of my head, hard, leaving me momentarily stunned. Another howl sent me scrambling to my feet as I ran towards the ladder. Just as I threw the hatch open to descend to the ground the clouds moved in front of the full moon, blocking the only source of natural light, and sending everything into pitch black darkness, but not before I saw movement of something very large at the base of the ladder. I froze in terror as I stared down at the shape of the thing that was sniffing around the base of the tower, a low growl rising from its throat, clearly audible even at 75 feet in the air. My eyes had yet to adjust to the sudden darkness but I could none the less make out the distinct shape of the undeniably wolf like creature. From where I stood in the air, I could make out thick, broad shoulders, a long muscular body, a long swaying tail, pointed ears, and a pointed muzzle. From what I could see of the wolf like creature, its paws, larger than any wolfs I’ve ever seen, were oddly shaped. They almost looked like…

I gasped in fear, realization, and disbelief as what I was looking at registered in my mind. The thought of the single word gripped my heart in terror and sent adrenalin coursing through my veins. No non-fictitious creature that looked like a wolf had hands instead of paws. And I had unintentionally made possibly the worst mistake that could have just cost me my life.

My gasp had not gone unnoticed, and the creature below me instantly turned its head up in my direction, right when the moon, for a brief moment, peeked out from behind the clouds, illuminating the large eyes staring up at me. Unfortunately, the moon also revealed my location, even though I was pretty sure that the thing would have seen me even without the moon light, but now there was no doubting that I was there. Right before the moon again disappeared; the creature below me pulled back its lips in a snarl, revealing very long and very sharp teeth. Then, once the moon had again vanished from the sky, all I could see were faintly illuminated eyes staring back up at me. For a moment that’s how it stayed with the creature and I staring into one another’s eyes with it snarling 75 feet below me, until it did something that had me screaming in terror. It ran to the ladder and began to, somehow, climb the 75 foot accent to the top. With another scream I flung the hatch door shut and bolted it. I franticly searched for the nearest heaviest objects that I could use to block the door. I dashed around piling everything that was within the walled in platform onto the hatch as the thing grew rapidly closer to the top. The last thing I piled on top was the chair that I had tripped over earlier, before dashing to grab the walkie-talkie I had dropped and turning it to the emergency frequency, screaming,

“Hello?! Is anyone there?! This is Park Ranger (name) and I am in need of IMMEDEAT ASSISTANCE!!! I am in watch tower 13, 6 miles south of Craggy Peak. I am being attacked by a---AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!” The creature had at last reached the top of the ladder and had rammed the hatch door so hard that half of the pile of random items (mostly the light weight stuff but also a few heavy items) flew into the air. I had backed up so quickly that my back rammed into the wall of the tower and I lost my grip of the radio as it went falling to the earth below. Now, not only was I trapped 75 feet in the air, but I was now cut off from the outside world as a creature that shouldn’t even exist was attempting to get onto the platform.

I watched in horror as the hatch bucked with each shove the creature gave, all of the items having just about fallen off, and the snarling was now a full blown growl. I was hyperventilating so bad that I became lightheaded and my legs buckled from beneath me. When I hit the ground, something long and metallic knocked against the back of my head. My eyes widened with shock as I belatedly remembered that I was not unarmed and I in fact had a loaded rifle strapped to my back. I just might have a fighting chance! Struggling against the strap I hurriedly prepped the gun and, placing the butt of the rifle against the crook of my shoulder, aimed it at the door and waited for an opportunity. The sound of the wood resisting the pounding of the creatures’ attempts at breaking through was more than nerve racking. If it wasn’t for the fact that the hatch was reinforced with strips of metal, I am positive that it would have broken through by now instead of simply bending the metallic strips. However, as much as the hatch itself was holding, the bolt and hinges weren’t faring the same way. I watched in fear as the screws were being pulled right out of the floor. With every hit I began to see more and more of the snarling beast, glimpses of shining eyes, snarling jaws, and wicked claws. Claws which were now scraping at the floor boards of the platform.

My heart pounded erratically against my ribs, sweat dripped down and soaked my clothes while some slid down into my eyes which I hurriedly wiped away. The creature gave a few more shoves against the door when the hatch finally bowed enough that an entire, fur clad arm was able to reach all the way onto the platform and the claws dug into the wooden floor boards, leaving deep, long gashes. My heart pounded faster, my breathing sped up, my palms where sweating, and my finger twitched rapidly against the trigger of the gun. My natural fight or flight response was in overdrive. I couldn’t flee, my only other options was to fight, since my only means of escape was cut off. I could try and climb down the support beams that held the tower up, but a fall from 75 feet in the air was as appealing as what was obstructing the ladder. Aside from falling, there was no guarantying that the creature wouldn’t see me on my way down and come after me once I reached the bottom.

The screeching of straining metal under pressure refocused my full attention to the danger at hand. I watched with a pounding heart as the creature began to emerge. I waited. And waited.

Finally, the creature emerged enough so that I could see the arm, shoulder and head of the snarling beast. Without waiting a second longer, I pulled the trigger and the shot rang out as the bullet sped the short distance between the beast and the barrel of the gun, a brief flash of light from the muzzle briefly illuminating blond fur.

A roar of pain rang out, the sound as defining as the bang from the gun. Though I was briefly blinded from the flash of the gun I could still make out the outline of the beast still trying to get on the platform. Rapidly I fired off multiple shots, hoping to either scare it away, injure it enough to chase it off, or kill it before it could kill me for it was clear that if it wasn’t after me before, it was definitely after my blood now. I continued to fire until I no longer had any rounds left in the chamber; the creature was still snarling and screaming, no doubt baying for my blood. I hurriedly reloaded the gun. The attempts of the creature to break threw had significantly slowed. It was no longer pounding on the door at a rapid pace. In fact, there was no pounding or attempts to come up, only snarls and other strange noises that I could not quite describe but I could only imagine that they were made in pain from the multiple bullet wounds.

I finally managed to shakily reload the gun, cocking it I raised it back in place as I waited, trying to steady my shaky breathing. A minute passed and everything went quiet. There was no snarling, no growling, no clawing, pounding, or scrapping. It all went quite. I hardly dared to breath, straining my still ringing ears to pick up on any sound. I couldn’t tell if the thing had left, but neither could I tell if it was still there. Minuets seemed to stretch on for hours as I waited for something to happen. Anything! Not knowing what was happening was tortures.

Finally I heard something, a snort of some kind, and then the sounds of something moving down the ladder. I held my breath as the sound grew fainter and fainter. No longer able hear anything I assumed that the beast had left, though I refused to leave my spot with the gun aimed at the damaged hatch. The silence once again stretched on for what seemed like forever. Then, from somewhere below me, a long, drawn out howl echoed throughout the night once more. My breath hitched and I ran to the far side of the platform and looked down. Just as I reached the opposite side the moon once again reappeared in the night sky and the earth was once again bathed in soft silver light. And there in the lunar light, just at the edge of the clearing surrounding the lookout tower, with its head drawn back and its snout towards the sky, stood the source of the howling, the cause of a nearly destroyed hatch and a years’ worth of therapy.

I could only gaze in awe at the creature that had only moments before tried to reach me at the top of the tower, that I had only moments ago shot at multiple times. The light of the moon reflected majestically off golden fur and the long sleek and muscular form. I could see on the right forearm blotches and streaks of crimson that, although the color added to the beauty of the creature, I couldn’t help but feel guilty for having caused it, knowing that the crimson color did not belong on the golden coat. All of my previous fear seemed to just vanish as I stared. Once the howl ended the creature turned its head back up at me and I tensed as its eyes locked with mine, but for some reason I didn’t feel threatened by its stare this time unlike before. Our gazes remained locked and I could make out the faintest glint of blue.

We continued to stare as the night continued to wane, the silence of the forest continued to stretch on around us and I got the feeling that it was waiting for something, wanting something, from me. I couldn’t explain why I thought that it wanted something from me but it was just a gut feeling. Almost as if my mouth had a mind of its own, a single word passed through my lips and seemed to echo in the silent air,

“Werewolf…”

With that single word spoken, the werewolf’s lips seemed to curve up in a lupine smile before it turned and disappeared back into the forest. I continued to stare at the place where it once stood, the image of the ferocious yet majestic creature that would have no doubted ended my life had I not had my rifle with me, still imprinted in my mind. It seemed like hours had passed when I finally registered the sound of a large motor approaching from the air. Looking to the East I saw the lights from the rescue chopper speeding towards me, its search lights on and scanning the forest as one remained trained on the tower. I turned back to look one last time at the place the werewolf had once stood before the chopper arrived and, dropping the ladder which allowed me to climb up into the cabin, took me away from the tower and place where everything I thought I knew about the forest was turned upside down.

~3rd POV~

As the chopper that arrived to rescue the human ranger flew off to where it came from, a pair of icy blue eyes watched from a distance. When the sound of the helicopter had vanished into the distance, one, final howl, echoed through the forest, this one, if you listened carefully, seemed to say,

‘I’ll be waiting…’

Description
Werewolf!GermaniaXForestRanger!Reader

Riding above the forest tree line in late October was simply a wonderful feeling. Looking out over the changing deciduous trees, ranging from burning gold to roiling oranges and reds amongst the green pines and cypress’, to the lapis blue lake in the valley below, a sense of peace was left to linger amongst the scent of the hardwoods and to be carried along the crisp mountain breeze. I could stare at it for hours and be perfectly content, but I had a job to do. Urging my stead, (horses’ name), forward we continued down the trail to the rangers post. Upon arriving, the other rangers’ horse whinnied out a greeting and (h/n) returned it with one of (his/her) own. Dismounting I led (h/n) to the stable and began to remove the saddle and other equipment from (his/her) back. Once all of that was taken care of I led (him/her) to the open pen with the other horse. Returning to the stable I retrieved the supplies that had been packed and went inside the thatched roof cabin to relieve the current ranger of duty.

“Hey Matthew, how’ve you been holding out?” I asked upon entering the kitchen where I was greeted with the scent of pancakes and bacon being fried.

“Hello (name), I’ve been doing good, you?” he asked in his usual soft, quite voice as he flipped the pancakes into neat stacks.

“I’m doing good. Man, those smell good Mattie.” I replied, my mouth watering at the smell. It was early morning. I had set out for the ranger post early so I could relieve Matthew in enough time for him to make it back to the waypoint before nightfall, therefore I had forgone breakfast in favor of a head start and I was starving!

“Thank you (name). Would you like some?” he asked offering me a plate of the delicious fluffy cakes and crispy meat.

I laughed, “Is that a question?” I accepted the plate from him and sat down at the round table to enjoy the heavenly things. It was well known that, while being soft spoken and often times over looked, Matthew made the best darn pancakes anyone has ever had. We sat and chatted awhile before Matthew had to leave. I helped him get ready and saw him off, knowing that he was probably going to be the last human contact I was going to have for at least a month if not longer. The ranger’s posts were spread out throughout the wilderness to ensure the safety of campers, hikers, and other outdoor enthusiasts, and this particular one, Ranger Post 13, was the farthest from them all, almost in the middle of no-where. Set up high amongst the mountains, it was at least a three days ride to get back to the nearest station, another two to the nearest town. As isolated as it was, it was set amongst the most spectacular scenery, so I wasn’t going to complain. Besides, I preferred these months by myself. It was a way to recharge after having to deal with some of the idiots back home and at the station. Most of the time two, if not three, of us would be sent up at a time, but we’ve been short on staff the past few months so I was sent up by myself. Again, I wasn’t complaining.

For the rest of the morning I spent it cleaning the kitchen and setting up the bedroom to just how I liked it. Then I collected my gear and headed off to the rangers tower. The walk was peaceful, with the occasional animal sighting but nothing big, just deer and the likes. Upon reaching the tower I readjusted the gun slung across my back and climbed the ladder up the 75 foot assent to the platform, where I remained for the rest of the evening, looking out over the forest and valley bellow, just enjoying what nature had to offer. As the day turned into night I decided to call it a day and head back. I had not seen any signs of other humans and there were very little animal sightings. Once I had returned to the cabin I made my dinner, took a shower (glad that they spent the money to install pluming with running hot and cold water), and got ready for bed. I made sure to leave the com radio on and next to the bed in case a call came in. And with that I was asleep.

This pattern continued for several days. I managed to catch the occasional glimpse of a bear or moose, which I then reported to the main camp so they could alert the park visitors. There was one night were I even heard one of the local wolf packs howling in the distance. The sound was just amazing. I still couldn’t understand why people would want to kill such magnificent creatures. Despite popular belief, wolves were an integral part of the ecosystem. They rarely, if ever, went after healthy animals (and humans for that matter) and kept the population numbers in check. The carcasses left behind fed other animals and microorganisms. In fact, studies have shown that vegetation is richer at kill sites, which attracts other herbivores. The cycle goes on and on, and on top of that, they’re just plain beautiful.

Five days had gone by in which nothing really exciting had occurred. As the sun was beginning its decent towards the horizon on the sixth day, a lone howl echoed off the sides of the mountain’s and threw the valley. The sound was long and deep, and solitary. What was surprising was how loud it was when the source of the howl must have been a long ways away. It sounded like it came from the next valley over at least, and still the sound was undeniably loud.

“That’s strange. I’ve never heard a howl like that before.” I said aloud, curiously.

“Hey, dudet! You there?” the walkie-talkie on my side crackled to life as the obnoxiously loud voice of one of the other rangers blared through the speakers. I picked up the radio and responded,

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“Dude!” he shouted as I winced, turning down the volume on the walkie so I didn’t lose my hearing, “Did you just hear that howl?!”

“Yes Alfred. It was pretty hard to miss.” I replied sarcastically back to the loud American.

“I’ve never heard anything like that! What do you think caused it?”

“A wolf most likely. Since they’re the only creatures that howl like that I don’t know what else it could have been.”

“Dude, that was WAY too loud to be a wolf. Not even a whole pack could be that loud!”

“I don’t know Al, maybe—“ I was cut off as another howl echoed through the valley, this time it sounded much louder. I began scanning the surrounding area for any signs of movement.

“Dude, there it is again!”

“I know Alfred I can hear it. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it could hear you too.” I said in annoyance.

“What?! You think so?!” he practically screamed.

“Probably, I can hear you without the walkie-talkie.” It was true. The forest had gotten so quiet after the howling that I could hear, faintly, Alfred screaming into the walkie from his station almost ten miles away.

“You don’t think it will come this way do you?” he replied much quieter.

“Why, the ‘hero’ scared of the Big Bad Wolf?” my lips twitched up in a slight smirk.

“What? Of course not! I’m the Hero and I’m not scared of anything! I’m just worried about your safety, that’s all. You’re all the way out there in the middle of no-where and if something happened to you help wouldn’t be able to arrive for a while.” I could tell he wasn’t telling the full truth but he did have a point. Alfred’s post wasn’t the closest but it was still quite a distance for anyone to reach me, and if something did happen to me, I’d pretty much be up a creek without a paddle.

“Calm down Alfred,” I replied, “I don’t think anything bad is going to happen. I think all that’s happening is that there are some unusual sound reverberations coming off of the mountains. The wolf could simply be in an area where the sound of its howling is amplified, making it sound louder than it really is.” Although my theory was a possible explanation and was meant to calm Alfred down, it was doing little to comfort me as the possibilities of the situation I was in started to sink in. For the first time since I started working as a park ranger, the feeling of foreboding, unease, and fear of the desolation and lack of human contact began to sink in.

I shifted the gun on my back as a way to reassure myself that I wasn’t unarmed and could defend myself if something happened. ‘Calm down, (name). Nothing is going to happen. Don’t let Alfred get you all worked up. Everything’s alright.’ Even though I tried to reassure myself that everything was going to be alright, something just didn’t feel right. A sharp beep from the walkie-talkie snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Hang on Al, someone’s contacting me.” I went to change the frequency.

“Be careful (name)!” he shouted before I switched over.

“Hello?” I asked. There was no reply. “Hello?” I tried again. There was still no reply. My heart began to race as fear once again started to settle over me. I began franticly scanning the surrounding land as I listened intently to the silence. It had become eerily quiet. Far too quiet to be considered normal. Every sound the trees made in the wind was amplified so that invisible paws carrying huge bodies with giant jaws laden with ferocious teeth echoed in the otherwise silent forest. The sounds grew louder, and louder, as they came closer, and closer, and closer, and—

“(NAME)!!” I gave a startled scream, clamping a hand over my mouth, as my name was shouted threw the walkie-talkie still pressed to my ear. “(Name), are you there? Hallo?!” I couldn’t answer I was shaking so badly. My breathing had speed up to the point I was panting, my heart was racing like I had just run a marathon and I was breaking out in a cold sweat. I felt like I NEEDED to run. To just run and get as far away from here as possible. I took some shaky deep breaths to calm myself. After a moment of gathering my nerves I responded shakily,

“Y-yeah? I’m here.”

“(Name), where are you? Are you alright? What’s happening?!” I finally recognized the voice as Ludwig, one of the other park rangers, as he shouted over the walkie-talkie.

“I’m alright Ludwig. I’m alright. I’m at my lookout post, right where I should be. Nothing’s happening.” I waited for a response but I only heard silence. “Ludwig?” I asked. Silence. Anxiety was beginning to set in again as the silence stretched on. The forest was growing darker, both figuratively and literally. The sun had all but set and the moon was beginning to take its place in the sky, and the unnatural silence still held itself over the forest.

“(NAME)!” Again a startled scream tore past my lips as the sudden noise ripped through the silence around me, only this time it sounded like a scream of terror. I didn’t cover my mouth in time and my scream echoed off the surrounding wilderness, it sounded much louder in the silence.

“(NAME)!!!” my walkie-talkie was suddenly a blaring, beeping mess as multiple calls were coming in and Ludwig was still shouting at me, trying to get me to respond. I finally realized that the reason why I hadn’t heard him talking earlier was because I still had the volume turned down from when I was talking to Alfred. Scrambling with the controls I franticly shouted into the device as different voices bombarded me with questions, saying that I was alright and that nothing was wrong. Finally managing to get everyone to stop asking questions I returned to the frequency Ludwig was on.

“Ludwig, are you there. Hello?”

“(NAME)! What’s going on!?” Ludwig shouted. It echoed horribly and the speakers squealed terribly from it as I winced at the high frequency.

“Ludwig, you don’t have to shout. Just give me a few moments to explain!” There was a pause on his end and I took that as a sign to continue. “Ok, so what happened was that me and Alfred, and I’m guessing you as well, heard a loud howl, then Alfred called me to discuss what we had just heard. Alfred being Alfred, was shouting into the radio so I turned down the volume on my end so I wouldn’t end up deft. When you called I forgot to turn the volume back up, so I couldn’t hear you unless you shouted, and when you did it startled me and I screamed. Does that explain it?” Once I was done with my explanation I was out of breath.

“Ja, it does. I’m sorry for startling you.” He apologized.

“And I’m sorry for causing so much concern. So why were you calling me?” I asked.

“Ah yes, that. I vas calling because I vanted to talk to you about—“ Ludwig was interrupted by another long, loud, howl. This time it sounded MUCH louder and MUCH closer. It lasted longer than the first two had and it seemed like time was at a standstill as it stretched on, “—that.” he continued once the howl had died down to a faint echo. “Was do you think it is?” I hadn’t realized until that moment that I had been holding my breath since the howl and I let it out slowly as I replied,

“I don’t know Ludwig. As I was telling Alfred, it could just be some unusual sound reverberations off the mountain. That it could be just a normal old wolf who happens to be in an area where sounds are amplified and its echoing off the surrounding mountains and the valley below. Aside from that I don’t know, but I’m starting to think this isn’t any ordinary wolf.” I replied shakily. My original theory seemed a possible explanation the first two times, but that third howl was simply too loud, too close, and had obviously moved from its original position. Shakily I reached for the green binoculars that rested on the table next to me. Bringing them up to eye level I scanned the valley opening that lead to the other valley on the opposite side of the mountains. However, with the sun down there was minimal light, despite the full moon, and the night vision function on the binoculars could only do so much for such a distance. They weren’t military grade so I could only make out the tops of trees. I could barely see the forest floor through the canopy, but what I could see was devoid of movement or any animals.

“Vell that sounds like a plausible explanation. However, I also agree vith you that this is no ordinary volf. That howl is too loud to be made from any normal volf. If this is a volf, then it must be unusually large for its howl to carry that long and loud.” He agreed.

“Yeah.” I replied uneasily, deeply dreading the fact that Ludwig agreed with me. Ludwig was a very logical thinker and did things by the book, unlike his obnoxious albino older brother, so if he agreed with you, well….you know. Suddenly, as I was scanning an opening in the canopy of trees on the edge of one of the mountains, something very large, and very fast past through my line of sight before disappearing back amongst the trees. “Wait, wait! I see something!”

“Was? Was is it? Was do you see?!” Ludwig shouted over the mic.

“Hold on I lost it.” There was a pause as I continued to scan the surrounding trees. “There it is again!” I shouted as I spotted the large, fast movement through another opening in the trees, but it was gone just as quickly as it had the first time.

“Was is it? (Name)?”

“I don’t know Ludwig. It’s large and moving very fast. I’m only catching brief glimpses through the trees before it disappears back into the forest.” I replied. Anxiety was leaking into my shaking voice as I continued to scan the forest at a fervent pace. The cold sweat had once again broken out and the cold night air was seeping through the green jacket I wore to chill me almost to the bone. I was again shaking, both from the cold and, I’m almost ashamed to admit, from fear.

“Vell, was do you think it is?” Ludwig asked.

“I’m not sure Ludwig. I’m not sure. The shape is long, and definitely four legged.” I replied.

“Vhere are you looking? Vhere are you seeing this?”

“To the North, on the Western side of Craggy Peak.”

“Alright.” There was a pause as he, I assumed, scanned the mountain side for movement from his look out post.

“Ludwig?” I asked quietly.

“Ja?” he replied.

“Have you noticed how…quiet it’s gotten?” I continued in a quiet voice as I scanned the mountain side for any more movement.

“Ja, I have. I don’t like it.”

“Yeah, me neither.” There was a long pause after that in which neither of us spoke and the walkie-talkie remained quiet. The silence of the forest encompassed me as I continued to scan the area. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t on high alert. Every sound the wind made was amplified in my mind. My imagination supplying possible explanations for everything I couldn’t see. Suddenly movement in the corner of my line of vision caught my attention and I aimed my binoculars in that direction. There in a clearing stepped out the large figure I had been catching quick glimpses of for the past several minutes. I gasped. Though the quality of what I was seeing threw the binoculars was poor, I could make out some very distinct features the creature had. A long, thick body, long legs, a long tail and pointed ears. I couldn’t make out too much else because of where it stood in the small clearing and because of the poor quality of the binoculars, but its shape looked…familiar. Like it was a creature I knew and was easily identifiable yet at the same time hard to place.

“Ludwig…” I whispered into the mic., “I see it.” I was afraid if I spoke too loudly that it would hear me, despite the fact that it was well over three miles away.

“Vhere?” Ludwig asked in an equally quiet voice.

“In a small clearing just off the side of Craggy Peak, just below the ridge line.”

“Scheiße, I can’t see that far...” He cursed quietly, “Was does it look like?”

“Long body, four long legs, a long tail, and pointed ears. I can’t see much else its’ too far and some trees are blocking my—“ just then the creature threw its head back, revealing a pointed snout and jaw line, and howled, long and loud. I gasped and froze, staring wide eyed at the source of the mysterious howling. Goosebumps ran up and down my arms, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end and a chill shot down my spine, freezing me in place, as the loudest, most foreboding howl I had ever heard echoed into the night air.

“Ludwig!” I half squeaked half whispered, “It’s the creature! It-it’s the thing that’s been howling! I-it looks wolf like, b-but it’s not a wolf. It…” I watched as it took off again, in horror, as it headed straight towards me. “It’s coming this way!” my voice was shaking, fear hanging on every word. I was shaking badly as I watched it through the breaks in the trees as it came closer and closer to the lookout tower.

“(Name), get out of there!” Ludwig shouted. I dropped the binoculars from my eyes and turned on my heels, heading for the hatch door leading down to the ground. However my eyes had yet to get used to the light after looking through the binoculars for so long and I failed to notice the chair in my way as I tripped over it. I was sent sprawling to the floor as I dropped both the binoculars and the walkie-talkie in an attempt to catch myself, an unintended scream rising from my throat as I hit the floor boards. The gun I was carrying slid across my back and butted against the base of my head, hard, leaving me momentarily stunned. Another howl sent me scrambling to my feet as I ran towards the ladder. Just as I threw the hatch open to descend to the ground the clouds moved in front of the full moon, blocking the only source of natural light, and sending everything into pitch black darkness, but not before I saw movement of something very large at the base of the ladder. I froze in terror as I stared down at the shape of the thing that was sniffing around the base of the tower, a low growl rising from its throat, clearly audible even at 75 feet in the air. My eyes had yet to adjust to the sudden darkness but I could none the less make out the distinct shape of the undeniably wolf like creature. From where I stood in the air, I could make out thick, broad shoulders, a long muscular body, a long swaying tail, pointed ears, and a pointed muzzle. From what I could see of the wolf like creature, its paws, larger than any wolfs I’ve ever seen, were oddly shaped. They almost looked like…

I gasped in fear, realization, and disbelief as what I was looking at registered in my mind. The thought of the single word gripped my heart in terror and sent adrenalin coursing through my veins. No non-fictitious creature that looked like a wolf had hands instead of paws. And I had unintentionally made possibly the worst mistake that could have just cost me my life.

My gasp had not gone unnoticed, and the creature below me instantly turned its head up in my direction, right when the moon, for a brief moment, peeked out from behind the clouds, illuminating the large eyes staring up at me. Unfortunately, the moon also revealed my location, even though I was pretty sure that the thing would have seen me even without the moon light, but now there was no doubting that I was there. Right before the moon again disappeared; the creature below me pulled back its lips in a snarl, revealing very long and very sharp teeth. Then, once the moon had again vanished from the sky, all I could see were faintly illuminated eyes staring back up at me. For a moment that’s how it stayed with the creature and I staring into one another’s eyes with it snarling 75 feet below me, until it did something that had me screaming in terror. It ran to the ladder and began to, somehow, climb the 75 foot accent to the top. With another scream I flung the hatch door shut and bolted it. I franticly searched for the nearest heaviest objects that I could use to block the door. I dashed around piling everything that was within the walled in platform onto the hatch as the thing grew rapidly closer to the top. The last thing I piled on top was the chair that I had tripped over earlier, before dashing to grab the walkie-talkie I had dropped and turning it to the emergency frequency, screaming,

“Hello?! Is anyone there?! This is Park Ranger (name) and I am in need of IMMEDEAT ASSISTANCE!!! I am in watch tower 13, 6 miles south of Craggy Peak. I am being attacked by a---AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!” The creature had at last reached the top of the ladder and had rammed the hatch door so hard that half of the pile of random items (mostly the light weight stuff but also a few heavy items) flew into the air. I had backed up so quickly that my back rammed into the wall of the tower and I lost my grip of the radio as it went falling to the earth below. Now, not only was I trapped 75 feet in the air, but I was now cut off from the outside world as a creature that shouldn’t even exist was attempting to get onto the platform.

I watched in horror as the hatch bucked with each shove the creature gave, all of the items having just about fallen off, and the snarling was now a full blown growl. I was hyperventilating so bad that I became lightheaded and my legs buckled from beneath me. When I hit the ground, something long and metallic knocked against the back of my head. My eyes widened with shock as I belatedly remembered that I was not unarmed and I in fact had a loaded rifle strapped to my back. I just might have a fighting chance! Struggling against the strap I hurriedly prepped the gun and, placing the butt of the rifle against the crook of my shoulder, aimed it at the door and waited for an opportunity. The sound of the wood resisting the pounding of the creatures’ attempts at breaking through was more than nerve racking. If it wasn’t for the fact that the hatch was reinforced with strips of metal, I am positive that it would have broken through by now instead of simply bending the metallic strips. However, as much as the hatch itself was holding, the bolt and hinges weren’t faring the same way. I watched in fear as the screws were being pulled right out of the floor. With every hit I began to see more and more of the snarling beast, glimpses of shining eyes, snarling jaws, and wicked claws. Claws which were now scraping at the floor boards of the platform.

My heart pounded erratically against my ribs, sweat dripped down and soaked my clothes while some slid down into my eyes which I hurriedly wiped away. The creature gave a few more shoves against the door when the hatch finally bowed enough that an entire, fur clad arm was able to reach all the way onto the platform and the claws dug into the wooden floor boards, leaving deep, long gashes. My heart pounded faster, my breathing sped up, my palms where sweating, and my finger twitched rapidly against the trigger of the gun. My natural fight or flight response was in overdrive. I couldn’t flee, my only other options was to fight, since my only means of escape was cut off. I could try and climb down the support beams that held the tower up, but a fall from 75 feet in the air was as appealing as what was obstructing the ladder. Aside from falling, there was no guarantying that the creature wouldn’t see me on my way down and come after me once I reached the bottom.

The screeching of straining metal under pressure refocused my full attention to the danger at hand. I watched with a pounding heart as the creature began to emerge. I waited. And waited.

Finally, the creature emerged enough so that I could see the arm, shoulder and head of the snarling beast. Without waiting a second longer, I pulled the trigger and the shot rang out as the bullet sped the short distance between the beast and the barrel of the gun, a brief flash of light from the muzzle briefly illuminating blond fur.

A roar of pain rang out, the sound as defining as the bang from the gun. Though I was briefly blinded from the flash of the gun I could still make out the outline of the beast still trying to get on the platform. Rapidly I fired off multiple shots, hoping to either scare it away, injure it enough to chase it off, or kill it before it could kill me for it was clear that if it wasn’t after me before, it was definitely after my blood now. I continued to fire until I no longer had any rounds left in the chamber; the creature was still snarling and screaming, no doubt baying for my blood. I hurriedly reloaded the gun. The attempts of the creature to break threw had significantly slowed. It was no longer pounding on the door at a rapid pace. In fact, there was no pounding or attempts to come up, only snarls and other strange noises that I could not quite describe but I could only imagine that they were made in pain from the multiple bullet wounds.

I finally managed to shakily reload the gun, cocking it I raised it back in place as I waited, trying to steady my shaky breathing. A minute passed and everything went quiet. There was no snarling, no growling, no clawing, pounding, or scrapping. It all went quite. I hardly dared to breath, straining my still ringing ears to pick up on any sound. I couldn’t tell if the thing had left, but neither could I tell if it was still there. Minuets seemed to stretch on for hours as I waited for something to happen. Anything! Not knowing what was happening was tortures.

Finally I heard something, a snort of some kind, and then the sounds of something moving down the ladder. I held my breath as the sound grew fainter and fainter. No longer able hear anything I assumed that the beast had left, though I refused to leave my spot with the gun aimed at the damaged hatch. The silence once again stretched on for what seemed like forever. Then, from somewhere below me, a long, drawn out howl echoed throughout the night once more. My breath hitched and I ran to the far side of the platform and looked down. Just as I reached the opposite side the moon once again reappeared in the night sky and the earth was once again bathed in soft silver light. And there in the lunar light, just at the edge of the clearing surrounding the lookout tower, with its head drawn back and its snout towards the sky, stood the source of the howling, the cause of a nearly destroyed hatch and a years’ worth of therapy.

I could only gaze in awe at the creature that had only moments before tried to reach me at the top of the tower, that I had only moments ago shot at multiple times. The light of the moon reflected majestically off golden fur and the long sleek and muscular form. I could see on the right forearm blotches and streaks of crimson that, although the color added to the beauty of the creature, I couldn’t help but feel guilty for having caused it, knowing that the crimson color did not belong on the golden coat. All of my previous fear seemed to just vanish as I stared. Once the howl ended the creature turned its head back up at me and I tensed as its eyes locked with mine, but for some reason I didn’t feel threatened by its stare this time unlike before. Our gazes remained locked and I could make out the faintest glint of blue.

We continued to stare as the night continued to wane, the silence of the forest continued to stretch on around us and I got the feeling that it was waiting for something, wanting something, from me. I couldn’t explain why I thought that it wanted something from me but it was just a gut feeling. Almost as if my mouth had a mind of its own, a single word passed through my lips and seemed to echo in the silent air,

“Werewolf…”

With that single word spoken, the werewolf’s lips seemed to curve up in a lupine smile before it turned and disappeared back into the forest. I continued to stare at the place where it once stood, the image of the ferocious yet majestic creature that would have no doubted ended my life had I not had my rifle with me, still imprinted in my mind. It seemed like hours had passed when I finally registered the sound of a large motor approaching from the air. Looking to the East I saw the lights from the rescue chopper speeding towards me, its search lights on and scanning the forest as one remained trained on the tower. I turned back to look one last time at the place the werewolf had once stood before the chopper arrived and, dropping the ladder which allowed me to climb up into the cabin, took me away from the tower and place where everything I thought I knew about the forest was turned upside down.

~3rd POV~

As the chopper that arrived to rescue the human ranger flew off to where it came from, a pair of icy blue eyes watched from a distance. When the sound of the helicopter had vanished into the distance, one, final howl, echoed through the forest, this one, if you listened carefully, seemed to say,

‘I’ll be waiting…’